Let us discuss other current issues. Felda for example. The land programme that is touted as a successful showcase of economic planning. It has allowed more than half a million people enjoy the benefits of organised land ownership and organised economic activity.
Or has it?
In light of what’s happening to Felda now, we are beginning to question has the Felda money been actually used to finance things not related to Felda at all?
For example, the money that was spent on the purchase of the Millennium Office Complex from Naza could have been an opportunity cost of building better schools inside Felda schemes.
Has the agency that was created by Tun Razak brought sunshine to more than 500,000 Felda inhabitants?
Felda seems to be getting the wrong kind of publicity nowadays. It all started with an allegation by a former deputy minister that Felda’s cash reserves have fallen from RM4 billion to RM200 million. There were also rumours saying the Felda is borrowing money from EPF to meet its shortfall in cash.
How the original issue degenerated into claims that Felda is becoming bankrupt wasn’t clear. The deputy minister in charge of Felda affairs, Dato Ahmad Maslan has initiated legal action against the accusers. We shall wait for the court drama to unfold.
Personally I thought this was a stupid move. Rather than demolishing the allegations with hard facts, the legal action will further enhance the credibility of the allegations.
The issue achieved great significance because it’s alleged that what Felda went through took place during the time when Felda was under the control of PM Najib. The inference is fairly obvious – that under PM Najib, Felda was mismanaged and its cash reserves dissipated.
Worse, the money was applied to arbitrary and frivolous pursuits at the expense of Felda settlers.
The government should come out clean on these allegations. Allow its books to be inspected by an independent auditor and publish the results thereof. Better still, publish a white paper on the application of Felda money.(As of right now, the Felda account have never been released to the public). Telling everyone that its books are there for anyone to inspect isn’t good enough.
How many MRSM’s were built in Felda schemes? Were these built at inflated prices? How many futsal stadiums? What are the social amenities and facilities provided? How much expenditure do all these consume? Do these tally with the usage of Felda cash reserves? Were they invested in profitable ventures. How are the returns? Or even classified as lumpy investments abroad that will take longer time to produce benefits?
Each day, there are always new things to ask. The most recent being the cost of replanting by Felda. While it costs its competitors around RM700 per acre to replant, Felda spends on average RM3000 plus per acre. Why is there so glaring a disparity? We have to answer the annoying accusation that this figure represents the level of profiteering that’s taking place within Felda.
It’s a stupid answer saying that it costs Felda this much because the cost of supporting the settler while trees mature has been included.
The question is, why should the cost of supporting the settler be included in replanting costs? Would it not be efficient from a management perspective for Felda to differentiate between the costs so that they could know the true replanting costs? That if everything is lumped altogether into a composite cost, that would be opportunities to conceal hidden and unjustifiable costs? It’s impossible for Felda not to be unaware of good financial housekeeping.
It will definitely create the suspicions, that the enormous re-planting cost has been deliberately inflated to disguise possible skimming of Felda’s cash. A thorough investigation must be conducted to dispel any notions that Felda Plantations Berhad is a den of thieves.
Why should Felda take out its cash reserves and buy an office complex from the Naza group? Was the purchase price justifiable? How much of the cash reserves applied to improved living conditions in Felda schemes? Settlers are not going to be impressed about tales of investments in America or elsewhere in the world when living conditions in Felda schemes have not improved significantly to reflect the huge amount of cash that been spent.
A few days ago, Felda has become a defendant in a litigation brought upon it by a group of settlers. It is being sued for RM200 million.
The basis of the suit is an allegation that for years Felda has been cheating settlers by short-changing them. It is alleged that Felda has deliberately understated the yield for FFB (fresh fruit bunch) sold by settlers to Felda.
Instead of getting a yield of 24-25 per cent, Felda gave a yield of 16-19 per cent. This has been going on for around 15 years and was taken as a systematic scheme of pilfering by Felda. It will be interesting to know whether in the intervening 15 years, the settlers now bringing a suit against Felda made any attempts to redress the situation.
It’s even scarier to arrive at a conclusion that what is happening to Felda is symptomatic of a more severe irreversible rot that has reached every sinew and bone of governance in our country. That corruption has reached levels beyond redemption which indicates that the government is simply incapable of correcting them.
– taken from sakmongkol.blogspot.com
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